Sustainable Urban Flood Management

Photo: Johanna Sörensen

Urban flooding is an increasing problem world-wide. So also in Sweden. One cause is related to climate change, but the major reasons are anthropogenic and have to do with, inter alia, non-optimal land use, insufficient flood proofing of buildings and mismatching insurance schemes. In order to deal with flooding in a sustainable way, the strategy has to shift from the old ways of flood protection with focus on structural measures to Sustainable Urban Flood Management (SUFM) and building resilient cities. This methodology contains important, non-structural components, such as stakeholder participation and social learning.

Although this new way of thinking is promoted by the EU Flood Directive, it has not been implemented fully in Sweden. In this project we will, through work with case studies Malmö, Helsingborg, Göteborg, Höje å river basin (Lomma, Lund, Staffanstorp) and in collaboration with concerned municipalities, analyze obstacles to SUFM and develop strategies to overcome such obstacles. An important aspect of the proposed project is to focus on existing buildings and infrastructure. Our research team consists of experts from multiple disciplines, which is a necessary condition for success.